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RavenDiablo In reply to ??? [2014-09-27 01:22:24 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I just love the warrior look on her. 

Believe it or not, I didn't like that catsuit look on Maleficent at all.  It was just too modern looking...remember we are talking a medieval period here.   That whole scene I didn't care for as how her wings 'magically' found their way back to her.   Read my Maleval fanfic story I have here on DA.  I redid that whole scene in my story.

Now this what I call badass:

neilsentertainmentpicks.files.…

Of course.  The original Maleficent was portrayed as pure evil.

In terms of the new movie there were parts I liked (which was most of the film), but there were some story twists I didn't like.  I mentioned the wing scene above, and also the thing that irks me the most is that Maleficent herself didn't turn into the dragon.

Yes, I friend of mine here on DA tipped me off on that as well since Elsa is in it.  I saw the woman who plays her and I must say she does make a decent Elsa.  Much better than the women Disney uses in their parks for the Meet and Greet.   But one character I am taking a notice to is the Evil Queen, Regina.   I saw clips of her and took a liking to her.   But what the heck did they do to Maleficent in OUAT?   Uuuuugghhh!

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JoshNg In reply to RavenDiablo [2014-09-28 17:19:03 +0000 UTC]

Well, Once Upon a Time DOES turn her into a dragon, for one thing.

Funny that you should mention that, because the fact that she didn't turn into a dragon in the movie didn't bug me that much. To begin with, I'm actually not THAT big into so-called "high fantasy" (I mean, I enjoy it, I'm just not super hardcore into it). What's interesting is that one of my closest friends IS super hardcore into high fantasy, and he ALSO hates the fact that Mal didn't become the dragon. So...yeah, I get it if the modern catsuit look isn't your thing.

That said, if we're going to talk about the live-action movie itself... okay, I have a feeling that you probably enjoyed it more than I did, so just take everything I say with a grain of salt.

As a long-time Disney animation fan, I WANTED to like the movie, and in fact, there are elements of it I DO like: the visuals are pretty, I thought Jolie looked and acted great in the role, I thought the recreation of the christening scene was fantastic, and I like Lana Del Rey's dark rendition of Once Upon a Dream. But...I could not get over the fact that the movie tried to turn Maleficent into a HEROIC character.

I'm sorry, but Maleficent--one of the greatest Disney VILLAINS of all time--is NOT a hero. Now, if you wanted to gradually transform a villain into a hero, or if you wanted to generate sympathy for the villain, that's GREAT. That opens up loads of opportunities for story and character developments. In fact, Once Upon a Time does this beautifully with the Evil Queen. But while you're building sympathy for the villain, you still need to show that she's actually VILLAINOUS! In the movie, Mal is shown to wield immense magical power and to harbor great contempt for King Stefan (this is why I loved the christening scene), but Regina the Evil Queen--in a friggin' FAMILY TV SHOW--is shown not only to be contemptuous and manipulative, but also to be the active driving force behind the pain, suffering, misery, and death of others! THAT'S what villains do! She knows she's evil, and she completely owns it!

Granted, one COULD see the movie as a completely new and heroic re-imagining of the character (like in Wicked), and that's not to say it couldn't work, but that means you basically have to stop calling Mal a villain and start calling her an antihero, a rogue, or an outcast, because she's only a villain in the minds of the other characters, but not to the audience. Even if you're okay with that, it still doesn't fix some of the other issues with the movie. I mean, don't get me started on those three "good" fairies. Seriously, if it were just left to them, baby Aurora would have DIED.

In the end, it just wasn't the movie I was hoping for--given that the trailers looked awesome. Still, I do know some people who really liked/loved the movie, and really, that's fine. I guess the heroic aspect either really resonated with them, or just didn't bother them as much. Anyway, agree to disagree and all that good stuff.

Getting back to OUAT--while I can't say I like what they did to Maleficent's looks--taking the series as a whole, I can SORT of understand why they took that direction with her. However, in all fairness, she's not the main focus of the series anyway, and she still has some real presence for what little time she does appear.

Anyhow, keep up with the fanfiction. I think your idea for handling that particular scene makes a lot more sense than what the movie gave us.

...man, that was a long reply....

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RavenDiablo In reply to JoshNg [2014-09-30 01:09:06 +0000 UTC]

Hello!

Oh, so she DOES turn into the dragon in OUAT?  Interesting.  I just didn't like her overall look based on a clip I saw.  But Regina?  She is quite the head turner for sure.

Well, I didn't care for Diaval changing into the dragon and that was the most glaring of the twists.    I didn't care for her getting her wings back either.  Even though feelings wise I was happy she did get the back.  I just the thought the WAY they did it was tactless.   And then to top it off, that catsuit?   We are talking a medieval time period here.    There were just so many other and better outfits she could have worn.

Oh, so you didn't care for the movie?   Yes, I really did enjoy the movie despite my not agreeing with several things in the latter "Sleeping Beauty" part of the movie.  But the whole beginning I loved, especially the flying scenes.   But I will say that the thing I loved the most about the movie was Jolie's portrayal of Maleficent.   She completely embraced the character and did a fantastic job.  So much so that I actually became rather attached to Maleficent.  If you look at my favorites you will see that it is mostly stuff that is Maleficent related.

Well, the heroic thing...yeah, I kind of thought what would have happened was that she was good first and then turned evil and then, as in Sleeping Beauty, there would have been a big battle and she would have lost her life in the battle as she did in the original Sleeping Beauty.   So I was surprised that they twisted things around again and Maleficent became good again.  But it didn't bother me to much and it seemed to be a nice touch that her involvement with Aurora actually united the kingdoms.   But I do think the film would have had more of a following with die hard Sleeping Beauty fans if they followed the storyline a bit more closely.

Yes, I think I would have loved to see the movie played out a bit longer and show more of the 'evil' that Maleficent was known for.   But I do know what you mean about generating sympathy for a villain and they did that wonderfully in the movie.   When I saw that scene when Maleficent was betrayed I could feel the hair stand up on my back and I just harbored so much hatred for Stefan.   In real life, I pride myself in being a gentleman towards women and I treat them well.  I hate to hear stories of violence and abuse towards women.   It is something that just gets under my skin.   Any man is not a gentleman (in my eyes) that takes a malicious hand to a woman.

I have not watched OUAT, but I may because I want to see Elsa.  But a friend of mine tipped me off on Regina and said that I would like her.   I saw a few clips with her in it and I think my friend might be right.   The actress that plays Regina reminds me of Sela Ward and I like her.

Yeah, I didn't like the fact that they made the three fairies 'dumb'.   I certainly liked them better in Sleeping Beauty.   Also I don't like the name changes either.   Also adding to the stupidity of the fairies, why didn't they change Aurora's name as they did in the original?   They called her Briar Rose in that movie...a name I rather liked.   But all in all I do admit it was funny when Maleficent created the rain storm in the house.

I will say that overall I wasn't bothered as much by the heroic aspects and turn around for Maleficent.   They did say it was a different story and I accepted it as such.  I ended up taking a very strong liking to Jolie's Maleficent.  I don't know, perhaps because I always found Maleficent attractive, to see what it would be like if there was a good side to her.   I just ended up getting very attached to her.

But I know you can't compare Jolie's Maleficent to the original as she truly was evil, but she was very passionate about it and that was the draw I had to the original Maleficent.  And of course, she was always badass in my book because she could turn into a dragon.

I just ended up the movie as intended, as a separate retelling of Sleeping Beauty.   I ended up liking it overall and I will get the DVD when it comes out.   I don't agree 100% of the plot, and I am not a big fan of Jolie, but  I do tip my hat to her for a superb portrayal of Maleficent, both good and evil.  I became rather attached to her Maleficent right after the movie.  I also thought that it would be nice if Maleficent and Diaval would pair off and this is where my fanfic comes into play.

No, I agree, I can't stand the OUAT Maleficent.   She's blonde, her horns are whacked, and they seemed to make her rather pathetic.

Yes, I posted chapter 14 of my story the other night.   This chapter does have a rather long anticipated 'racy' scene.   Viewer discretion is advised, but optional (heh heh).  I think the story turned out good overall.   Now I am not finished with it, but I am going to go on hiatus for a bit as I am working on projects for Halloween.  If you visit my page you can see one of my Halloween projects and that is a Maleficent costume for my wife.  It is a WIP, but I am nearing completion on it.   My wife and I set her up in the near completed outfit and she looked awesome!   My jaw hit the floor when was done.  I took a ton of pictures!

There are still things I have to work on such as a better mounting system for the horns, as they are pretty loose and if my wife leans forward (like say to pick something up).  The horns will fall off.   So I need something more secure.

Then there is her staff that I still have to do.    In addition I have another major Halloween project I am working on and only have a month to do this all in.  Arrrrrghhhh!

Need more time!

Yeah, that WAS a long reply, but good!

Have a good evening.

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JoshNg In reply to ShadowMere28 [2014-09-11 07:33:41 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the fave!

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JoshNg In reply to alfredofroylan2 [2014-09-02 05:49:59 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the comment, glad you like it! Thanks also for the fave and the watch!

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JoshNg In reply to ELLOCABRUJA [2014-09-02 02:38:24 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much!

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